For anyone juggling a few part-time shifts, picking up gig work between contracts, or cobbling together income from more than one employer, Canada's employment insurance system may not have your back if things go sideways.
That's the core finding of a new poverty report card from Food Banks Canada, released Monday, which argues that EI was designed for a workforce that no longer exists.
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What the report says
The labour market has shifted significantly toward part-time, temporary and contract work. EI, however, still caters primarily to workers with stable, full-time employment at a single employer.
Eligibility is at the centre of the problem. To qualify for EI, claimants need to accumulate a set number of insurable hours within a fixed period. For workers with irregular hours, multiple jobs, or contract arrangements, hitting that threshold is harder even when they've been working consistently.
The result is that many of the workers who face the most income instability are also the ones least likely to qualify for support when they lose work.
Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley called the outdated EI system "one of the greatest threats to Canada's resiliency," noting that unemployment remains elevated and households are still under pressure from the cost of living.
How much EI actually pays
EI replaces about 55 per cent of a claimant's average insurable weekly earnings. For someone earning $68,900 per year, that works out to a maximum of $729 per week.
For workers who don't qualify at all, that number is zero.
Ottawa's response
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said her department was reviewing the Food Banks Canada report with an eye to strengthening the social safety net.
Her office pointed to a few upcoming measures, including the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, a renamed and topped-up version of the GST benefit. Payments worth half the annual benefit value are set to go out to eligible recipients this Friday, with temporarily higher quarterly payments starting next month.
The Food Banks Canada report acknowledged the groceries benefit as one program offering "cautious optimism," but noted that food insecurity remains a serious challenge.
Hajdu's office also referenced recent EI reforms, though those were largely focused on giving flexibility to workers in industries hit by U.S. tariffs.
"Canada's Government will continue to listen to Canadians and be responsive to their needs as we navigate uncertainty," her office said in a statement.
The bigger picture
The report is a reminder that the gap between who EI was designed to help and who actually needs it has been widening for years. Gig economy growth, the rise of contract work, and the normalisation of multi-job households have all outpaced the policy.
Whether Ottawa moves to address the structural issues, or focuses on targeted short-term relief, remains to be seen.
*With files from CP
